Ace Frehley Didn’t Realize He’d Rewritten Kiss’ ‘Beth’

His single “Rockin’ With the Boys” explores the experience of being on tour and missing a loved one who’s waiting at home – a similar scenario to the one featured in “Beth” from Kiss' 1976 LP Destroyer.

“Ironically, I never really thought about it when I was writing it,” Frehley told Forbes in a new interview. “I wrote that chorus in the ‘70s, but I was never happy with the verses or the bridge, so I revisited it. It’s about touring with Kiss and leaving our loved ones behind.”

You can listen to both songs below.

Frehley added he felt he was at a creative “all-time high” since he’d dealt with his substance-abuse issues. “Every year I'm away from drugs and alcohol, some of the memory cells are coming back,” he said. “My producing is better and the songs I'm writing are better. Prior to the release of Anomaly in 2009, 20 years went by before I released a record. I find it mind-boggling that I let that happen. But when you're under the influence, you lose track of time and you make mistakes. Right now I'm making up for lost time. And I'm having a lot of fun doing it.”

Elsewhere in the interview he recalled how playing guitar had helped him escape from a potential dead-end life in a New York street gang. “By the time I was 15, I'd be getting calls from the Ducky Boys saying, ‘We're going to a rumble tonight in a school yard, bring a switchblade and a chain,’” he said.

“And I'd say, ‘I can't, I got two gigs this weekend!’ In essence, music saved my life, because half of those guys ended up dead, overdosing on drugs or going to jail. One of my best friends stabbed a guy in a bar and did some serious time. God has a plan for everybody. I was lucky enough to get out of that element. Music took me away.”